1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lighting apparatus which produce white light that is variable within a predefined range of correlated color temperatures, and more particularly to such lighting apparatus that employ a plurality of light sources each emitting light of a different color which blend together to produce the white light.
2. Description of the Related Art
The interior spaces, such as those of buildings and vehicles, historically were illuminated by incandescent or fluorescent lighting devices. More recently lighting systems have been developed that utilize groups of a light emitting diodes (LED's). For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,882 describes a vehicle lighting system which employs a plurality of LED's mounted in a linear array to form a lighting strip. By varying the voltage applied to the lighting device, the intensity of the illumination can be varied to produce a desired environmental effect. For example, it is desirable to control the illumination intensity and color of the passenger cabin of executive aircraft and custom motor coaches to accent or emphasize the cabin décor and to set different environmental moods for the occupants. Subtle changes in the shade of white light can have a dramatic effect on the interior environment of those vehicles.
One technique for characterizing white light is correlated color temperature based on the temperature in degrees Kelvin of a black body that radiates the same color light. An ideal model of a white light source is referred to as a “Planckian radiator”. The loci of the chromaticities of different Planckian radiators form a curve on the chromaticity chart of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) in Vienna, Austria, which characterizes colors by a luminance parameter and two color coordinates x and y.
Another characterizing technique measures the color rendering properties of a light source based on the degree to which reference colors are shifted by light from that source. The result of this characterization is a numerical Color Rendering Index (CRI) having a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being a perfect source spectrally equal to sunlight or full spectrum white light. In general, light sources with a CRI between 80 and 100 make people and objects look better and tend to provide a safer environment than light sources with lower CRI values. Typical cool white fluorescent lamps have a CRI of 65 while rare-earth phosphor lamps have a CRI of 80 and above.
Some prior variable lighting systems contain several emitters that create light of different colors which mix to produce an resultant illumination color. The most common of these systems utilize red, green, and blue light sources driven at specific excitation levels to create an equivalent “white” light balance point. However, it is difficult with prior lighting systems to create white light that adheres to the Planckian radiator curve on the CIE chromaticity chart and has a CRI greater than 80.
Other variable lighting systems in common use utilize a broad spectrum “white” light source, along with individual red, green and blue light sources. The “white” light spectrum is then shifted on the color chart by amounts related to the contributions of the individual red, green, and blue light levels with respect to the level of the broad spectrum light source level and to each other. Although this type of lighting apparatus can replicate the Planckian radiator over a range in the visible spectrum of light, it has a poor Color Rendering Index over most of that range.
In order to illuminate an entire room or the passenger cabin of an aircraft, the lighting system must employ numerous light sources and different areas may be illuminated by different lighting systems. Even where all the sources are commonly controlled, various ones may produce different shades of white light. Thus it is difficult to provide a uniform color of light throughout the interior space.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a lighting system which permits the color temperature of a broad spectrum light to be varied within a predefined range in a controlled manner. It is further desirable to provide a mechanism that automatically calibrates each light source to consistently produce light at a predefined correlated color temperature, thereby compensating for changes that occur as the source ages over time.